Epic Games Admits That Handling Of Metro: Exodus Epic Games Store Exclusivity Was Poor

Epic pledges to never do it that way again.

Posted By | On 21st, Mar. 2019

metro exodus

The Epic Games Store has become a fixture of the gaming landscapes in just a few months—in large part because of how aggressively Epic has attempted to seat it firmly as a launcher for PC gaming, by soliciting exclusives aggressively. These have included games such as The Division 2 and the upcoming The Outer Worldsbut no exclusive solicited by Epic for their store generated as much controversy and backlash as the eleventh hour Epic Games Store exclusivity announcement for Metro Exodus did.

And it looks like Epic now feels that in hindsight the whole thing was handled poorly, because speaking to PC Gamer, Steve Allison, head of the Epic Games Store, noted that it is not something the company ever wants to do again this way.

“We had been talking to those guys for a number of months,” he said, “and they made some decisions on their end—this is not a throw under the bus thing, it’s just the timing of where that came together and what was important to their business—we decided to do it together, we both knew there was the potential for the thing that happened in terms of communication. I think it felt way worse and was bigger than we thought, and in real-time, we spent time talking … ‘we will never do this again in this way.’

“And I think we’re not in a situation now where that could ever happen, because now we’re live and we have a view out in time, and we can work with everybody … We have a case study where it says ‘maybe we should make our decisions earlier,’ and we will.”

In the end, while the decision obviously caused a lot of anger among fans, it looks like the game itself thankfully did not suffer because of it. As Epic themselves noted during their GDC keynote yesterday, Metro Exodus ended up doing 2.5 times better than Metro: Last Light had done on Steam launch aligned. Storefront wars aside, in the end, the games themselves not being affected is what we can and should hope for.


Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out!

Share Your Thoughts Below  (Always follow our comments policy!)



Keep On Reading!

Star Wars: Hunters Launches for PC in Early Access on January 27

Star Wars: Hunters Launches for PC in Early Access on January 27

Zynga's free-to-play hero shooter originally launched for mobile devices and Nintendo Switch earlier this year...

Cyberpunk Live Action Project is Still in the Conceptual Stage

Cyberpunk Live Action Project is Still in the Conceptual Stage

"But we’re also not yet at the stage where we would be shopping around the concept to potential streamers or...

PS2 Has Sold 160 Million Units, Sony Officially Confirms

PS2 Has Sold 160 Million Units, Sony Officially Confirms

Former PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan claimed the same earlier this year, and the figure has now been officially con...

The Witcher 4 Enters Full Production

The Witcher 4 Enters Full Production

Codenamed Project Polaris, the fantasy action RPG was in pre-production for over two years, and is confirmed t...

Towers of Aghasba Early Access Review – Towerfall

Towers of Aghasba Early Access Review – Towerfall

Moonlit Games' striking visuals and intriguing lore belies a frustrating survival sandbox experience with too ...

Cyberpunk 2077 Has Sold 30 Million Units, Phantom Liberty Crosses 8 Million

Cyberpunk 2077 Has Sold 30 Million Units, Phantom Liberty Crosses 8 Million

CD Projekt RED has shared new sales figures for the action RPG and its expansion, both of which have maintaine...